18. Video Killed the Radio Star #2
A painful chuckle escaped Cassie’s throat. “Try thirty grand expensive.”
“Shit, Cass. That’s—”
“A nightmare,” she muttered. “I already needed a new roommate, but now it’s... I don’t have that kind of money just lying around.”
“You could’ve told me. I would’ve helped.”
Cassie shot them a look. “I’m not taking your money.”
“I don’t have that kind of money.” Kellan shrank back, hands coming up defensively. “I just meant I could’ve helped you find someone sooner.”
Cassie sighed. “Kellan, I need a roommate, not some rando you know who’ll flake on rent after a month.”
“It’s not some rando,” Kellan huffed.
Something Cassie had learned from Kellan over the years, sometimes you just had to let a person stew in their own silence. She wasn’t nearly as good at it, but sometimes—
“I’m offended by that remark.” Kellan squirmed uncomfortably in their seat.
The movement caused something in Cassie’s brain to click into place. “No,” she said flatly.
“You don’t even know who I was going to say.”
Cassie crossed her arms. “It’s Alex, isn’t it?”
Kellan had the nerve to look almost sheepish. “Look, I know it sounds ridiculous, but you did say you needed someone fast.”
“They told you they need a roommate??”
“Yeah.” Kellan shrugged. “They’re starting to get a little desperate to get out of their sister’s place.”
“Did they put you up to this?” Cassie asked hotly .
“What? No! I just thought you should know,” Kellan responded dramatically. “Why would you think that?”
“We talked about it… before…” Cassie shook her head. “Come on, their family has money. They’re not struggling.”
Kellan leaned forward, their voice low, expression serious. “Alex doesn’t take their family’s money.”
Cassie blinked, caught off guard. “How do you know that?”
Kellan’s expression didn’t change. “They told me.”
Cassie frowned, the memory of her conversation with Alex about their ex returning unbidden.
Replaying it over in her mind, she remembered Alex had told her the same thing.
She shook her head trying to reconcile that with what she knew of Alex’s father.
“That doesn’t make sense. Robert Sharpe is not just going to let his oldest child live with some random roommate. ”
Kellan hesitated, suddenly interested in the last piece of waffle still on their plate. “It’s not that simple.”
Cassie narrowed her eyes. “Kell… we’ve been friends for a long time. What are you not telling me? What am I missing?”
Kellan sighed. “Cass—”
“No. Don’t ‘Cass’ me,” she interrupted. “You obviously know something. What is it?”
Kellan shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not my story to tell.”
Cassie clenched her jaw, anger bubbling hot again. “But you know, don’t you? You know why they won’t take their family’s money.”
Kellan hesitated again, a nervous tremble visible in their hands. “Not in so many words, but yeah...”
Cassie exhaled sharply, frustration simmering. Normally, Kellan combated nerves with bravado—loud, bold, cheeky. But quiet, shaky Kellan was… rare .
Finally, Cassie sighed. Her voice clipped but no longer harsh. “And you’re not going to tell me?”
Kellan met her gaze, steady. “Would you want me telling Alex your personal business?”
Cassie opened her mouth to argue, but Kellan’s words stopped her short. Damn it. They were right.
Kellan softened slightly. “Look, I’m not keeping secrets to mess with you. I’m trying to be a good friend… to both of you.”
Cassie looked down at her coffee, her fingers resuming their tap… tap… tapping. “Is it bad?”
“It’s complicated.” Kellan’s jaw tensed.
Cassie studied them. “It’s about their dad, isn’t it?”
Kellan exhaled through their nose. “Cass.”
Cassie leaned forward. “We briefly talked about their dad before… everything. It was pretty clear they don’t exactly get along.”
Kellan ran a hand through their hair, looking torn. Finally, they said, “All I can tell you is that Alex didn’t take this job knowing it was yours. They never would’ve if they had known.”
Cassie swallowed. “Because of their dad.”
Kellan didn’t confirm or deny, but the look in their eyes said enough.
Cassie exhaled slowly. “So if I want answers, I have to ask Alex myself.”
Kellan nodded. “Yeah. And if they tell you? That’s up to them. Just like if it were you, I’d do the same.”
Cassie looked away, processing. She had assumed Alex had been bullshitting her when she found out who they really were.
But if Alex really wasn’t relying on their parents’ money…
that was unexpected. She had assumed, like everyone else probably did, that even if Alex wasn’t getting a monthly handout, they had a financial safety net.
Th at they weren’t genuinely worried about things like rent or budgeting. But if that wasn’t true…
Still, she shook her head. “Doesn’t change anything. I’m not living with Alex.”
Kellan held up their hands again. “Hey, just throwing it out there. You need someone fast, and they need a place. That’s all I’m saying.”
Cassie eyed Kellan sharply, shaking her head. “Not happening.”
Kellan shrugged. “Your loss. They’re clean, responsible, and gone most of the time. You’d barely know they were there.”
Cassie wasn’t sure why that made her stomach tighten.
She grabbed her coffee again, her grip firm. “Not happening,” she repeated.
Kellan just smirked. “Whatever you say.”
Still, even as the conversation shifted to safer topics, she couldn’t quite shake the thought.